Encounter

When Ed stepped out the door, a system message popped up:

[Contact with direct sunlight detected.]

[Your stats have doubled.]

[Your thirst grows]

"Wow it even detects how thirsty I am! I wonder if it also detects my hunger and nutrition?"

Ed felt something deep inside him burning up. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it also wasn't necessarily a pleasing feeling. Along with this fiery sensation, he felt invigorated and ready to tackle the quest.

"Ah well...if I get too thirsty, I could just stop by a park that's close-by and drink some tap water."

Ed closed the door behind him and kicked off, starting his run. He felt much lighter than usual, but he was also sweatier. He felt as if it was hotter all of a sudden. As if the sun were directly heating him up inside out.

"Did I read the weather report incorrectly? Why does it feel like 30*C out here?" Ed fanned himself with his hand.

Half an hour had passed by and Ed was almost done with his run.

[Your thirst grows]

"This message again...something's wrong...why am I getting so thirsty so quickly? And it doesn't feel like a normal kind of thirst…" Ed scratched his head.

[Zero to Hero]

Push-up, 100x: (0/100)

Squat, 100x: (0/100)

Sit-up, 100x: (0/100)

Running, 10km: (8/10)

Ed was sweating buckets. While he wasn't necessarily tired, he was getting really thirsty and couldn't bear dealing with it anymore. He stopped by a park that he'd spotted earlier.

He walked over to the outdoor tap and turned it on.

[-1HP will be added every 30 minutes you don't drink water]

"What the hell?!" Ed began to panic. He quickly opened his mouth and gulped the water down like a madman.

He spent several minutes gulping down the taper water until he noticed a system notification.

[Quest: "It's Important to Drink Water" has been completed.]

[5XP will be rewarded]

(5/100)

Ed's eyes widened in shock. He turned off the tap water and stared at the notification. He remembered that he was required to drink 2L of water to complete this quest.

"Did I really just-" Ed covered his mouth with his hands and kept glaring at the notification.

"Ok...ok...calm down. Nothing good ever happens when you panic." Ed dropped his hand and took a deep breath.

The heat in his body hadn't gone away and he was still sweating, but his thirst had gone away.

"Do I need to get a check-up with a doctor?" Ed wondered if he had contracted some kind of disease and he wasn't aware of it.

"But...the thirst felt more painful than usual...and it didn't really make me tired…" He started analyzing his symptoms and began hypothesizing what kind of condition he was in.

He shook his head.

"I shouldn't be thinking too hard. I'll just have a doctor look into it and everything will be fine."

"Hey! Isn't that Ed? What's that loser doing here?" Said a familiar voice.

Ed turned around to see who it was and started shaking in anger as soon as he recognized them.

It was Rick, along with his 3 buddies.

[Hostiles detected.]

[Quest unlocked: "Beat Rick and His Lackeys"]

Ed paid no mind to the notification, as he was already planning on doing so.

"Hah! Still alive and kicking, ey?" Rick pointed to the back of his head.

"Did it hurt when I slammed you to the ground?"

Ed frowned and his anger was beginning to build up

[Anger level has reached the required amount]

[+2 to all stats]

[Your thirst grows]

Ed was too blinded to notice the message and began his march towards Rick.

"Oooooo...someone's mad!" Rick said sarcastically while nudging his friends to his sides.

Laughter ensued.

Ed started running and jumped up, kneeing Rick to the ground.

Everyone went silent; they were now pissed off.

"Oi! What the hell did you just do to Rick?! Guys...mess him up!"

They all charged towards Ed at once.

Ed began to panic.

[Skill unlocked: "Combat Assist"]

[Activate skill?]

Ed nodded without thinking, and the skill activated. He could now see red lines coming towards him and blue dots marked on their bodies, but he could also feel that his body has heated up even further now.

Ed moved his body so that the red lines weren't coming towards him, but they started to move slowly towards his direction as he did so. He then moved in, avoiding the red lines, and closing in on the bastards.

The looks on their faces were priceless, especially the grounded Rick who was slowly starting to get back up whilst rubbing his face. They all wore an expression that exclaimed shock, anger and fear simultaneously.

Ed threw a right hook towards bastard #1's side, then proceeded to perform a low-kick on bastard #2's leg, and finally a downward elbow to bastard #3's head.

[3 Bastards defeated. 30XP will be rewarded.]

(35/100)

The scene was beautiful, almost like it came out of a martial arts movie, but Rick wasn't pleased. While the others were on the floor each grabbing their dedicated damaged body part, Rick was running towards Ed with his hands to the side.

Ed put on a stance and prepared to dodge and counter. However, Rick wasn't planning on facing him physically. Rick motioned his palms towards Ed explosively and released a green beam of energy.

Ed wasn't ready and had forgotten that Rick was capable of magic. He ended up taking the blow head-on, but to his surprise it didn't hurt as much as he had expected. Rick now having lost his momentum and a significant part of his energy, dropped to the floor on one knee.

"This guy used to bully me? He's so weak...Thank you Staryx for giving me such an opportunity" Ed grabbed Rick by his hair and pulled him up.

"What are you doing...do you even know who my parents are?!"

Ed knew Rick's parents were rich and capable, but he wasn't aware of their political power.

"Like I give a damn…" Ed kneed Rick repeatedly until he was knocked out, and then dropped him to the ground.

[Rick defeated. 20XP will be rewarded.]

(55/100)

He sighed deeply and looked up at the sky. It was as if the stars had appeared to congratulate him for his first step towards the top.

[Anger has subsided.]

[Direct contact with the sun has subsided.]

[Stats will return back to normal]

[Your thirst is back to normal]